What Was She Like?
by leafs nation
Summary: Chas opens up about his past as he talks to his daughter about his deceased wife.
1. Chapter 1

The house was nearly silent, as all of the residents had long gone to sleep except for the short, nasally man with a bright orange moustache to match his messy orange hair and purple glasses. He flipped through the mementos slowly, reminiscing and thinking back to what each moment had meant to him. He smiled as he came upon a photo of his now-deceased wife holding his baby son in her arms, grinning down at the bundle of joy.

Chas sighed as he looked down upon her face. It had now been 16 years to the day that Melinda had passed, and with time and a loving new family to look after, the emotional heartache had dulled to a sort of numbing pain every now and then.

"What was she like?"

Chas turned with a start, thoroughly surprised to see his daughter, Kimi, standing in the doorway. She giggled a little at his reaction, and then sat down beside him to look through the box laid out on the floor. Scattered across the carpet were collectible stamps, a bunch of old records, some of the photos Chas had seen already, as well as some old toys that Kimi recognized. She grabbed her Superthing doll and started flying it in the air with her arm, chuckling slightly at the nostalgia.

Chas watched for a little bit before explaining, "Melinda was something… special. She had a vibe about her that I just can't explain. She loved having a family and was just so full of life." He looked back down at the picture and sighed. These words had been said exactly the same way to his son, right before they left for Paris all those years ago.

The older man proceeded to the next photo, wiping off the dust to get a good look at it. Meanwhile, Kimi had started looking through a journal that Melinda had written during her time in the hospital prior to her death. Her words were filled not with remorse and sadness, but with hope. Hope for what may have been to come if she wasn't going to make it, and hope that her boys would move on if she was to pass.

"She seemed awesome, Dad. Why don't you like to talk about her very much?"

"I think that I've had enough time to mourn her loss, so it's not really an issue anymore. I've come to realize that there's no point looking back with regret, but to focus on the future with courage."

Kimi smirked and jokingly replied, "Yeah, 'cause you're so courageous and all, right Dad?"

Chas pretended to be offended and lightly tickled his daughter, holding her sides and bringing her closer to him.

After they finally settled down, Kimi tiredly leaned her head against Chas' shoulder, as he paused to look at more pictures. "I really like these ones." Chas remarked, talking about the pictures of the gang and their mothers during the road trip.

"Oh yeah," Kimi exclaimed, "I think we took pictures at pretty much every possible rest stop, and we almost got eaten by a bear…"

"_What?!_"

"Oh, and here's the one of us all after the soccer championship! Phil was so disappointed." While everyone else seemed like they were just having fun, Lil was angrily staring at her brother, who was sobbing on his knees with his hands over his face.

There were some more pictures of the gang, including everyone at Susie's sister's wedding, them standing outside the newly-renovated Java Lava, them at Angelica and Susie's graduation, and (Kimi's favourite) everyone, including the parents and grandparents, having an aerial photo, making goofy faces.

"I think this one is my favourite of all." Chas said softly, pointing to the one that he held in his right hand. The wooden frame was kept neatly and well-preserved. At the top left had the whole family when Kimi and Chuckie were babies, with Kira holding Chuckie in her arms and Kimi on Chas' back. The bottom left showed the family just before they were about to do the Kabuki theater production back in middle school. The top right showed everyone at Kira and Chas' wedding, featuring all of the Rugrats gang and their parents.

Kimi glanced down at the last picture and grinned at the recent memory. Chuckie had been the first of the gang to get his driver's license (who would've thought) and he, Kimi, Tommy, Lil and Phil decided to go on a day trip to Los Angeles. They drove up to the Hollywood sign and got a group photo taken, with everyone hanging onto a piece of the sign.

While Kimi continued to look at it, Chas started to shuffle up the remaining photos into a nice, neat pile. The middle-aged man had many fond years with his family, and he realized that his kids grew up so fast right before his eyes. Kimi would soon become a grown woman, and before he knew it she would find a new job and a new place to call home. Even though the thought of his kids leaving terrified him, Chas knew that it was inevitable. They would soon be able to face real-world situations all on their own.

His thoughts then returned to why he had taken a look through the pictures in the first place. The 17th anniversary of Melinda's death was tomorrow, but he was just going to visit by himself since Chuckie would be away with Kira at his chess tournament.

"Kimi?"

"Yeah?" she asked, not looking away from the collection of belongings.

Chas scratched the back of his head in hesitation, but eventually he asked, "Would you like to come with me to visit the cemetery tomorrow?"

At that she turned around, wide-eyed and surprised. She hadn't expected that at all. "Umm… well, are you sure that's okay? I mean, I didn't actually know her, and I don't want to be disrespectful or anything…"

Chas shook his head and responded, "Not at all. I'd love to have you come along, and I'll answer any questions that you might have about it. But I don't have a problem if you decide not to- completely understandable, sweetheart."

"I'd love to go," Kimi replied, reassured in herself, "what time did you want to leave?"

"Oh, let's say around lunch-time, that'll give us plenty of time to do anything else you want to do tomorrow."

"Sounds like a plan, Stan." Kimi stretched up her arms and yawned softly, indicating that she had stayed up for too long. "I'm gonna hit the hay. Goodnight, Dad."

"Goodnight, Kimi." Chas hugged her daughter before she left to go back to her room. He packed up the rest of the items back into the box before putting it back onto the shelf. Closing the door behind him, he whispered to himself, "I know that you're up there, Melinda. I just want to say thank you, for watching over us for all these years."

As Chas stumbled in the dark trying to make his way to his and Kira's room, he thought of something pretty important.

"Now if only I could find my car keys…"

_Thanks for reading guys! Please leave a review and there'll be more of this story to come! _


	2. Chapter 2

Kimi buttoned up the top of her coat as she patiently waited by the front door for her father. She was anxious to get going but didn't push anything for fear of Chas becoming upset; she knew that Melinda was a touchy subject in their house.

She started to mentally prepare herself for what was to come- she didn't want any unwanted surprises or emotional outbursts. There wouldn't be much point of her coming long if she was just crying the entire way, would there? But trying to steady herself wasn't an easy task to complete since she never actually knew the person that they were going to see.

"Ready to go?" she finally asked as Chas was tying up his shoes.

"Sure thing."

Neither of them spoke as they approached and sat down in the car, not only due to the cemetery but also because of the bitter winter cold. It wasn't snowing outside, but you could see your breath and it felt as though you could freeze to death at any second.

Chas started backing the car out of the driveway, careful to not run over any passers-by. He was positive that his daughter had questions for him, but he wasn't exactly sure that he had all the answers. It was such a long time ago. But the real question he had on his mind was this: how do you tell your stepdaughter about your old wife without making the conversation _really _awkward?

"All right, where to start…" Chas began, trying not to take his eyes off the road as he spoke. "You already know that Melinda was Chuckie's birth mother, and that she died when he was about one years old."

Kimi nodded as if to continue.

"Well, she planted all of those flowers that used to be in the backyard when you were little, she was intelligent and resourceful, and…"

Chas stopped talking for a second as he pulled up to the driveway in the cemetery. "She was a lot like you and your mother."

Silently, they opened up their respective doors and Kimi followed her father through the rows of tombstones. They passed through Charleston, Davis, Denninger, Ford… "Huh, where is it? I can't be getting Alzheimer's already…" Chas said worriedly.

Kimi came up to a row of three headstones covered in snow, and she wiped them off with her sleeve. The third one she studied for some time before reading:

"_Here lies Melinda Finster: friend, lover, mother and enjoyer of life. May she rest in peace for all eternity and watch over her family in God's good graces." _

The two of them stood there for a little bit, Chas letting a few teardrops roll down his face. Kimi felt her body freeze, and it wasn't because of the cold. She felt suddenly like she was an intruder; a person who had no right to just butt in to their lives.

"You know what really helped me get through all of this?"

Kimi turned to her side to see her father still looking at the resting place, but he had a small grin on his spectacled face. "You guys. I was an emotional wreck for a year and a half, but then you and Kira came into our lives and I've never been happier."

He put an arm around Kimi's shoulder and sighed happily. "I don't think you'd remember, but I took you and Chuckie here when you were about two years old. It made me so proud…"

_Flashback…_

"_Ok, kids! We're almost there!"_

_Chas walked Chuckie and Kimi up to an old stone carving with someone's name on it. Chuckie thought that the place was terrifying, but Kimi tried to convince him that they were on an adventure and just visiting a friend of their daddy's. Chuckie carefully took his sister's hand and walked forward, confused as to why there were words on this stone block._

"_Chuckie, I'm not sure if you can understand this, son, but this is where your old Mom is sleeping. She went up to heaven from here." he explained, placing Kimi on his knee._

_He then motioned for Chuckie to come up and see the stone carving. The boy put his hand on the rock and giggled slightly. He then took a little flower out of his pocket and put it in front._

"_That's very nice of you, Chuckie. Thank you," Chas said, ruffling Chuckie's hair. Chas then felt his daughter climb off of his knee and watched as she put down a stone, and clapped her hands together as she sat down._

_Chas was nearly in tears as he scooped up his kids and pulled them in for a big hug. "You guys have no idea how much you mean to me. I love you both so much."_

_End Flashback_

Once again Kimi didn't know what to say. She felt like hiding and never coming out, but at the same time she wanted nothing more than to meet Melinda. Kimi really had no idea why she felt such affection for the woman. Maybe it was the fact that she gave him a great brother and made Chas a knowledgeable dad. Whatever the reason was, she was grateful for her. But it was getting much too cold to stay outside, and she was sure that they'd both catch pneumonia if they remained much longer.

Chas seemed to read her mind, as he said, "Well, I think we're finished here today. What do you say we grab some lunch?"

"Yeah, I'm starving. Where do you want to go?"

"I was thinking the Java-"

Kimi turned around and gave him a "really?" look.

Chas chuckled and responded, "Just joking. Anyway, how about the Zen Teahouse? I've never been and it looks pretty good."

"Sure thing, but you're buying!" They both returned to the car and talked about anything that came to their minds. Kimi's skating practices came up a bit, as did Chas' fear of heights and Chuckie's fear of pretty much everything.

As the car left a trail of dust on the road behind them, a soft voice whispered in the air. _'Thank you…' _

Our view then shifted to the horizon, hearing this repeated throughout the air, as well as a curious voice asking,

"How do you use these chopstick things, anyway?"


End file.
